Both males and females have decreased fertility as they get older, but one of the signs of infertility is not getting pregnant after a full year of a couple trying.
And two reasons that aging reduces a woman's fertility are diminished health of her eggs and a reduced ability of the ovaries to release them. They also have a higher risk for miscarriage and other health problems that affect their fertility.
A woman's highest fertility is in her 20's, with her 30's being a time when she is still relatively fertile. She will start having difficulty conceiving as she gets into her mid to upper 30's. Miscarriage risks start to come into play in her late 30's. Fertility decreases appreciably in smokers and drinkers. With more women choosing careers today that put off child-rearing, aging has become the primary reason for infertility.
When women fail to conceive after a whole year of intercourse, they are considered to fall in the Primary Infertility category. If they have conceived once before but have gone a year without conceiving (while trying the whole year), they are considered to be in the Secondary Infertility category.
Infertility issues plague both men and women equally, according to some experts, while others say women comprise sixty percent. Statistics show that ten percent of actively trying couples have trouble conceiving, with four of five conceiving within a year. A "normal" amount of time to conceive is considered to be up to two years.
Complete physical exams are necessary for many couples, in order to assess their fertility levels. Since males have a large percentage of the fertility issues (even if it is less than fifty percent), it is important that both partners be tested.
The first tests normally done by a fertility specialist are for a woman's levels of FSH and her LH. (These abbreviations stand for Follicle Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone.) These tests are usually done on a woman's first and her third visits to her doctor. It should be noted that the tests for these two hormones - Luteinzing Hormone and Follicle Stimulating Hormone - can be done on the male partner, as well. LH and FSH are both important for male fertility too.
Routine tests done later on the female include ultrasound tests, additional hormone tests, and a cervical mucus test. Not done very much nowadays, the cervical mucus test involves testing the post-coital mucus lining the vagina for healthy sperm. One reason for the test is if the male partner does not want to be tested.
Ultrasound testing can be done as part of your initial consultation with a reproductive endocrinologist. Ultrasound testing is done to get an overall picture of the health of all the female reproductive organs. Ultrasound imaging is also done to see if an egg has been released from ovulation.
Reproductive Endocrinologists can test for many other important hormones, other than just the luteinizing hormone and the follicle stimulating hormone. The primary ones are: androstenedione, DHEAS, total testosterone, progesterone, estradiol, prolactin, free T3, and free testosterone.
Treating infertility is a subject for an entire series of articles, but in a nutshell, infertility treatments run the gamut from simple drugs to surgery. Infertility treatments can get very expensive and time-consuming - and rarely covered by insurance, so it boils down to how bad a couple wants to conceive. Certain treatable infertility problems include Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS, which is treated with the drugs clomiphene and metformin together.
Failure to ovulate can be treated by clomiphene, with the next level of treatment being hormone therapy. One of the more undesirable side-effects of hormone therapy is the increased likelihood of having 3 or 4 babies all at once.
In Vitro Fertilization (a.k.a. "IVF") is at the top of the most extreme measures that a couple can take in their effort to conceive. Expensive, emotionally and physically taxing, it requires daily hormone injections (can be painful), daily monitoring by a doctor, and regular blood testing. With acupuncture by fertility acupuncture specialists in combination with IVF, however, the success rate is very high indeed - one in three couples are parents. This can come with the 'cost,' however, of having to raise twins (one-third of couples who use IVF and get pregnant have twins). - 29962
And two reasons that aging reduces a woman's fertility are diminished health of her eggs and a reduced ability of the ovaries to release them. They also have a higher risk for miscarriage and other health problems that affect their fertility.
A woman's highest fertility is in her 20's, with her 30's being a time when she is still relatively fertile. She will start having difficulty conceiving as she gets into her mid to upper 30's. Miscarriage risks start to come into play in her late 30's. Fertility decreases appreciably in smokers and drinkers. With more women choosing careers today that put off child-rearing, aging has become the primary reason for infertility.
When women fail to conceive after a whole year of intercourse, they are considered to fall in the Primary Infertility category. If they have conceived once before but have gone a year without conceiving (while trying the whole year), they are considered to be in the Secondary Infertility category.
Infertility issues plague both men and women equally, according to some experts, while others say women comprise sixty percent. Statistics show that ten percent of actively trying couples have trouble conceiving, with four of five conceiving within a year. A "normal" amount of time to conceive is considered to be up to two years.
Complete physical exams are necessary for many couples, in order to assess their fertility levels. Since males have a large percentage of the fertility issues (even if it is less than fifty percent), it is important that both partners be tested.
The first tests normally done by a fertility specialist are for a woman's levels of FSH and her LH. (These abbreviations stand for Follicle Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone.) These tests are usually done on a woman's first and her third visits to her doctor. It should be noted that the tests for these two hormones - Luteinzing Hormone and Follicle Stimulating Hormone - can be done on the male partner, as well. LH and FSH are both important for male fertility too.
Routine tests done later on the female include ultrasound tests, additional hormone tests, and a cervical mucus test. Not done very much nowadays, the cervical mucus test involves testing the post-coital mucus lining the vagina for healthy sperm. One reason for the test is if the male partner does not want to be tested.
Ultrasound testing can be done as part of your initial consultation with a reproductive endocrinologist. Ultrasound testing is done to get an overall picture of the health of all the female reproductive organs. Ultrasound imaging is also done to see if an egg has been released from ovulation.
Reproductive Endocrinologists can test for many other important hormones, other than just the luteinizing hormone and the follicle stimulating hormone. The primary ones are: androstenedione, DHEAS, total testosterone, progesterone, estradiol, prolactin, free T3, and free testosterone.
Treating infertility is a subject for an entire series of articles, but in a nutshell, infertility treatments run the gamut from simple drugs to surgery. Infertility treatments can get very expensive and time-consuming - and rarely covered by insurance, so it boils down to how bad a couple wants to conceive. Certain treatable infertility problems include Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS, which is treated with the drugs clomiphene and metformin together.
Failure to ovulate can be treated by clomiphene, with the next level of treatment being hormone therapy. One of the more undesirable side-effects of hormone therapy is the increased likelihood of having 3 or 4 babies all at once.
In Vitro Fertilization (a.k.a. "IVF") is at the top of the most extreme measures that a couple can take in their effort to conceive. Expensive, emotionally and physically taxing, it requires daily hormone injections (can be painful), daily monitoring by a doctor, and regular blood testing. With acupuncture by fertility acupuncture specialists in combination with IVF, however, the success rate is very high indeed - one in three couples are parents. This can come with the 'cost,' however, of having to raise twins (one-third of couples who use IVF and get pregnant have twins). - 29962
About the Author:
Janet has been publishing helpful articles on fertility and pregnancy for years. Discover more about acupuncture and infertility and smart ways to monitor fertility with innovative solutions such as the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor and other methods on the website.
